First in Independent India

First (Male) in Independent India

The First (Male) of
Name Tenure/Time Picture
Independent India

Who was the First Jan. 26, 1950 to May

Dr. Rajendra Prasad
President 14, 1962

Who was the First Aug. 15, 1947 to May

Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
Prime Minister 27, 1964

Who was the First (&

June 21, 1948 to Jan.
last) Indian Governor C. Rajagopalachari
26 1950
General

The First Indian who 1984 Mission: Soyuz

Rakesh Sharma
went in Space T-11

Who was the First Kodandera Madappa Jan. 16, 1949 to Jan.
Commander-in-Chief Cariappa 14, 1953
Who was the First
May 13, 1967 to May
President who died Zakir Husain
3, 1969
while in office

Who was the First

Prime Minister who July, 28 1979 to
Charan Singh
did not face the January 14, 1980
Parliament

Who was the First S.H.F. Jamshedji June 8, 1969 to Jan.

Field Marshal of India Manekshaw 15, 1973

Who was the First

Indian who crossed Mihir Sen 1958
the English Channel

Who did receive the

G. Sankara Kurup 1965
First Jnanpith Award

Who was the First Ganesh Vasudev May 15, 1952 to Jan.
Speaker of Lok Sabha Mavalankar 13 1956
Who was the First Air April 1954 to Nov.
Subroto Mukerjee
Chief Marshal 1960

Who was the First Aug. 15, 1947 to Feb.

Abul Kalam Azad
Education Minister 2, 1958

Who was the First

Home Minister (& Vallabhbhai Aug. 15, 1947 to Dec.
First Deputy Prime Jhaverbhai Patel 15, 1950
Minister)

Who was the First Jan. 26 1952 to May

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
Vice-President 12, 1962

Who was the First Vice Admiral Ram April 22, 1958 to June
Naval Chief Dass Katari 4, 1962

Who was the First

(Indian) President of
Dr. Nagendra Singh 1985 to 1988
the International Court
of Justice (Hague)
Who did First receive Major Som Nath
Param Vir Chakra Sharma

Who did First receive

Acharya Vinoba
Ramon Magsaysay 1958
Bhave
Award

Who was the First

Indian who received
Har Gobind Khorana 1968
Nobel Prize in
Medicine

The First Indian who

received Stalin (now Saifuddin Kitchlew 1952
Lenin) Peace Prize

Who was the First

Jan. 26, 1950 to Nov.
Chief Justice of Justice Hirala J. Kania
6, 1951
Supreme Court

The First person

(Indian) who received
Amartya Sen 1998
Nobel Prize
in Economics
Who was the First
Shyama Prasad
person resigned from April 6, 1950
Mukherjee
the Central Cabinet

Who was the First

Chief Justice of
Supreme Court Acted Justice M. July 20, 1969 to Aug.
as the President of Hidayatullah 24, 1969
India (Acting
President)

Who was the First

Shanmukham Chetty 1947 to 1949
Finance Minister

Who was the First

March 24, 1977 to
Prime Minister
Morarji Desai July 28, 1979
resigned without
Resigned in - 1979
completing his tenure

Who was the First

Baldev Singh 1947–1952
Defence Minister

Who was the First Bhimrao Ramji Aug. 15, 1947 to Sep.
Law Minister Ambedkar 1951
Who was the First Feb. 1967 to Feb. 3,
Chief Minister died C. N. Annadurai 1969 Died in Feb. 3,
during his tenure 1969

First (Female) in Independent India

The following table enlists First in India (in female category) after
independence −

The First (Female)

of Independent Female Tenure/Time Picture
India

The First Woman who

became Cabinet
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur 1947 to 1957
Minister (She was
Health Minister)

Who was the First

Woman Governor (of
a state)(She served as
Mrs. Sarojini Naidu 1947 to 1949
governor of the
United Provinces of
Agra and Oudh)

Jan. 24, 1966 to

Who was the First (&
March 24, 1977 &
only) Woman Prime Mrs. Indira Gandhi
Jan. 14, 1980 to Oct.
Minister
31, 1984

Who was the First

Justice M. Fathima Oct. 6, 1989 to April
Woman Judge of
Beevi 29, 1992
Supreme Court
Who was the First
Woman Ambassador
(First woman who
cleared Indian Civil Miss C. B.
Joined IFS in 1949
Services Exam and Muthamma
first woman who
joined Indian Foreign
Service)

Who was the First

Woman President of Vijaya Lakshmi
1953
the United Nations Pandit
General Assembly

Who was the First

Oct. 2, 1963 to March
Woman Chief Sucheta Kriplani
13, 1967
Minister of state

Who was the First

June 4, 2009 to May
Woman Speaker of Meira Kumar
18, 2014
Lok Sabha

Who was the First

woman crossed the
English Channel (She
is first Indian female Arati Saha 1959
sportsperson who
received Padma Shri
in 1960)

Who was the First In 1997, first flew on

woman cosmonaut Kalpana Chawla Space Shuttle
(from India) Columbia
Who was the First
Indian woman
1982 (for movie
received Academy Bhanu Athaiya
Gandhi)
Award (for Best
Costume Design)

The first Indian

female gymnast who
won Medal at Dipa Karmakar 2014
Commonwealth
Games

Who did receive the

First title of Miss Reita Faria 1966
World

Who did receive the

First title of Miss Sushmita Sen 1994
Universe

Who was the First Pratibha Devisingh July 25, 2007 to July
Woman President Patil 25, 2012

Who was the First

Surekha Yadav 1988
(female) train driver
Who was the First
woman commercial Durba Banerjee 1956
Pilot

The first Indian

woman who received
Dr. Asha Pande 2010
the ‘Légion
d'honneur’

The youngest woman

who achieved the title
Humpy Koneru 2001
of grandmaster
(Chess)

Who is the first 100%

visually challenged
NL Beno Zephine 2015
Indian Foreign
Service Officer

The First woman who

received Jnanpith Ashapoorna Devi 1976
Award

The First woman who

received the ‘Bharat Indira Gandhi 1971
Ratna’ award
The first woman (in
the world) who First in – 1992 &
Santosh Yadav
climbed Mount Second time in 1993
Everest twice

First in India Before Independence

The following table enlists First in India before independence −

The First in India

(Before Name Tenure/Time Picture
Independence)

Who was the First

Womesh Chandra
President of Indian 1885
Bonnerjee
National Congress

The First person who

cleared the Indian
Satyendranath Tagore 1863
Civil Service Exam
(ICS)

The First person who

received a Nobel Prize Rabindra Nath Tagore 1913
(in literature)

The First person who

received a Nobel Prize C. V. Raman 1930
(in Physics)
The First Indian who Jehangir Ratanji
became a pilot (of Dadabhoy Tata (JRD 1929
solo air flight) Tata)

The First Indian

leader who visited Raja Ram Mohan Roy 1832
England

The first Indian who

was appointed as Satyendra Prasanno
1919
member of the British Sinha
House of Lords

Who were the first Passed in 1882 &

(two) female Kadambini Ganguly degree received in
graduates 1883

Who were the first Passed in 1882 &

(two) female Chandramukhi Basu degree received in
graduates 1883

Who was the First

woman honors Kamini Roy 1886
graduate
Who the first woman
to read law at Oxford
University (She was Cornelia Sorabji 1889
the first female
advocate)